“Crazy Yi, what are you doing?! You’re not allowed to touch this lady’s hand!” Song Yu Meng struggled, “let go of me!”
Yi Ran loosened her grip on Song Yu Meng’s wrist and saw there was a red mark on her pale wrist. Softening her tone, she said: “Don’t tell me you want to embarrass yourself in front of the whole class?”
Song Yu Meng calmed down slightly.
“So what were you trying to do just now?” Yi Ran looked at her steadily.
“What was I doing? Of course I was going to warn that damned white lotus. She really thinks she’s something, who gave her the courage to sit next to Liu Luo Yang gege!”
Once she recalled the scene of Xu Yuan and Liu Luoyang speaking, Song Yu Meng’s anger came back in full force.
Yi Ran placed her hand on her forehead, feeling her frustration mounting. She said helplessly: “Come on, the seating was arranged by Tang Seng. What are you blaming Xu Yuan for? If you have the ability, score first in the exams, then the one sitting next to Liu Luo Yang would be you.”
“Hey! Why are you speaking up for that white lotus? Are you very close with her?” Song Yu Meng couldn’t stand anybody standing up for that white lotus, what more when it’s her second most hated person, Crazy Yi.
Yi Ran cocked her head to a side and looked at her, “Am I speaking up for her? I’m just stating the facts, you’re overthinking it.”
“Hmph, it better be that way.” Song Yu Meng lifted her chin arrogantly, “I’m telling you, don’t interact too much with that Xu Yuan. You can tell she’s nothing good with one glance. If you get cheated, don’t blame this lady for not reminding you.”
The more Song Yu Meng said, the more frustrated she got, until she started scolding Xu Yuan again: “That damned white lotus, don’t think she’s a big shot just because she got to sit next to Liu Luo Yang gege. If she dares to seduce my Liu Luo Yang gege, this lady is going to make her pay!”
Yi Ran folded her arms and looked at Song Yu Meng in amusement, thinking: More like the person who’s not good is you.
“Xiao-Yu[1], turns out you’re here.” Su Xiao Xiao ran over and stood at the rear door, panting. “Oh, student Yi Ran, you’re here too.”
Yi Ran nodded in response, stroking her chin while she was trying to figure out who she was.
“Xiao Xiao, why are you here?” Song Yu Meng’s tone went back to normal.
Thanks to the reminder from Song Yu Meng, Yi Ran finally remembered.
The girl standing at the rear door is Su Xiao Xiao, an innocent sweet girl who was Song Yu Meng’s one and only true friend.
In the book, Song Yu Meng had a bunch of fake friends[2], surrounded by people who only wanted to suck up to her and reap the benefits. She couldn’t be bothered to figure out which of them were genuine or fake, as long as they made her happy, it was fine.
“Teacher Tang is here, she asked me to call you two back to the classroom.” Su Xiaoxiao explained, “let’s go back quickly.”
Song Yu Meng en-ed[3] in acknowledgement, then turned her back to Yiran: “Hmph, this lady is magnanimous and shan’t hold it against you.”
Having said that, she left with Su Xiao Xiao, leaving a view of her arrogant silhouette to Yi Ran.
“Scaredy cat.” Yi Ran complained quietly.
……
The next morning, the piercing sunlight shone on Yi Ran’s face, waking her up. She sat up on the bed and grabbed at her sleep-mussed hair, her vision still blurry.
Looking at the bright sunlight outside, her brain finally woke up after a few seconds, reminding her that summer break was over and she had to attend school today!!!
Frightened, she grabbed the phone lying next to her pillow to check the time.
7:42.
Class Eight’s reporting time was 7:20, Yi Ran only had one thought in her mind — It’s over, she’s late!
Knowing that she’s already late, Yi Ran was actually quite calm. She’s late anyway, what difference would a few minutes make?
She sluggishly got out of bed and washed up before eating the breakfast that her helper prepared. Finally, she left on her electric scooter to school.
Yi Ran stopped her scooter at a cross junction and took out an orange-flavoured lollipop from her bag while she was waiting for the traffic lights to turn green.
She removed the wrapper and stuck the lollipop in her mouth, the sweetness of the candy immediately enveloping her tastebuds. She loved lollipops, especially orange-flavoured ones.
There was a black Bentley on Yi Ran’s side, and who else would be in the back seat but Song Yu Meng?
What a coincidence, she was late too.
Sitting in the backseat and supporting her chin on one hand, her gaze was trained on the view outside the window.
What bad luck, late on the first day of school. She was in for another nagging by Tang Seng, what a bother!
Song Yu Meng ruffled her hair in annoyance, and suddenly, she noticed the white scooter on the right. Looking more closely, the person riding it was Crazy Yi!
Heh, the annoyance in her heart finally disappeared. She didn’t think that Crazy Yi would be late too, now Tang Seng wouldn’t just be nagging her alone!
The more Song Yu Meng thought about it, the better she felt. This was the first time she didn’t get irked by the sight of Crazy Yi.
Song Yu Meng wound down the window and happily shouted to Yi Ran: “Crazy Yi, you’re going to be late since you’re riding that scooter.”
Yi Ran rolled her eyes, “we were already going to be late, okay?”
At that moment, the green light turned on for Song Yu Meng’s side and the car surged forward, but Yi Ran still had to wait a few seconds for her traffic light to turn green.
When Song Yu Meng was passing by Yi Ran, she said: “Cheh, so what? I’ll reach the campus earlier than you anyway. Take your time, this lady is leaving first.”
The Bentley had already gone past Yi Ran, but Song Yu Meng still stuck her hand out of the window and waved to Yi Ran.
Yi Ran smiled resignedly. This girl was really too immature.
It was just a little over 8AM, the peak period for people in Su Cheng heading to work. Therefore, there was a large number of cars on the road, resulting in the route to the school being heavily congested.
“Miss, there’s a jam ahead, we might have to wait for a while before we can continue our journey.” The driver, Uncle Wang, said.
Song Yu Meng resigned herself to her misfortune: “Forget it, I’m late anyway, let’s just take our time.”
The lane on the right finally cleared up and Uncle Wang wanted to change lanes, but the cars in front and behind were stuck, with no room for him to manoeuvre, so there was nothing to do but wait for their lane to start moving.
The light finally turned green, and Yi Ran continued on her journey, but when she saw how congested the left lane was, she thought: Scaredy cat’s Bentley can’t be on that lane, right?
So Yi Ran slowed down her scooter and searched for a glimpse of that black Bentley.
Indeed, she really saw it in the distance. Yi Ran smiled and sped up, it’s time for her to be the one rejoicing in someone else’s misfortune.
Song Yu Meng was just in the middle of resting with her eyes closed when she suddenly heard a voice that couldn’t be more familiar.
“Miss, how did you get caught in a jam? You’re too unlucky.” Yi Ran purposely stopped her scooter right next to Song Yu Meng.
Song Yu Meng glared at her and scolded nastily: “Bumping into you is the unlucky part, eight lifetimes of misfortune[4]! Get out of here Crazy Yi, stop being an eyesore in front of this lady!”
Yi Ran smiled instead of getting angry. She had wanted to rebut with a couple of sentences, but a car had come up behind her.
“Alright, I’m headed to school. As for you, continue being stuck in a jam. Bye bye~” Yi Ran rode her scooter past Song Yu Meng and copied her action of waving over her shoulder.
Song Yu Meng ground her teeth in anger, sticking her head out of the window with no regard for her own safety or politeness.
“Stop being so self-satisfied, Crazy Yi!!!”
……
After being stuck in the jam for half an hour, Song Yu Meng finally reached the school. It was already 8:35am, just five minutes left before the first class of the day was released. She ran up the stairs and towards the classroom, panting heavily.
“So, gravity provides centripetal force[5]…”
Everybody was intently listening to their physics teacher, including Yi Ran, who was punished with standing at the back of the room because she was late.
Suddenly, a “screech” came from the back. It was Song Yu Meng pushing the door open, and immediately, everybody’s attention was on her, including the physics teacher.
“……” Song Yu Meng stood there awkwardly, her face flushed red.
Oh god— the first class of the day was physics!!! She’s doomed!
Everybody in Class Eight feared the physics teacher, Teacher Zhang, the most. He was incredibly strict, and don’t even mention being late, if you so much as spoke to your friends in class and was found out, he would give you a verbal lashing. Male or female, he didn’t care.
Su Xiao Xiao knew the physics teacher hated tardy students the most. Yi Ran, who was late by only ten minutes or so had already been scolded in front of the whole class, what more Song Yu Meng, who has essentially missed out on the entire lesson?
Looking at Song Yu Meng worriedly, Su Xiao Xiao prayed in her heart that Teacher Zhang would get on with the class and not scold Xiao-Yu.
Teacher Zhang slapped the table heavily, shocking the students below. It was clear to all that he was about to explode.
A bunch of people were eagerly waiting to see Song Yu Meng being embarrassed, including Xu Yuan who laughed silently.
“Song Yu Meng! What’s the meaning of this?” Teacher Zhang was so enraged that the corners of his lips were twitching. “Look at the time, there’s only five minutes left in this class. You’re late for an entire period!!! What? Do you not want to attend physics class anymore?”
Song Yu Meng stood there enduring the harsh words, feeling utterly defiant and thinking: Why’s this old geezer so fierce? If I really wanted to take physics, would I only score ten points on the test? Irritating!!!
Teacher Zhang was still scolding away, but his target had changed from Song Yu Meng to the whole class.
“I’m telling all of you, if you want to study physics then you better take it seriously! Even if you’re late for just one second, it’s unacceptable! What more being late for an entire class! If you don’t want to study physics, just say it, what’s the point of acting like this?!”
Everybody in class lowered their heads and stayed silent. Song Yu Meng was still standing at the rear door, sticking out like a sore thumb.
“Have some self-awareness Song Yu Meng, get out of the classroom and don’t disturb the students who want to learn!”
Having been embarrassed in front of the whole class, Song Yu Meng’s temper flared up. She threw her bag on her table and proudly turned to leave, but not before complaining bitterly: “Being so irritable, maybe it’s menopause[6]?!”
Even though it was said under her breath, Yi Ran who was standing beside the rubbish bin heard it and couldn’t help but snicker, thinking it was pretty accurate.
The physics teacher saw Yi Ran smiling widely and his anger rose again, shouting while pointing a finger at her: “Yi Ran, what the hell are you laughing at? Scram outside and stand there!!!”
Thus, Yi Ran went to stand outside, but before she walked out the door, she also complained in a low voice: “So irritable, it must be menopause!”
[1] 小雨 – A more familiar way of addressing someone by putting a 小 (xiao) in front of their name. Typically it’s their surname or the last character in their name, but in this story, the author has chosen to go with Yu.
[2] 塑料朋友 – Literally plastic friends.
[3] 嗯 – It’s like a hum of acknowledgement. I’m still undecided if I want to use “en” in the future or change it to “mm” if it’s spoken dialogue. Maybe I’ll use “hum of acknowledgement” if it’s not in dialogue though, we’ll see.
[4] 倒了八辈子霉 – literally cursed with misfortune for eight lifetimes.
[5] 重力提供向心力 – I never took physics in school, so I’m not actually sure if gravity provides centrifugal force, but… yeah. EDIT: A kind reader corrected me, it should be centripetal force! Edited above~
[6] 更年期 – Well, we usually use menopause when it comes to ladies, but yeah, it was a bit funny seeing it here lol.